TV Review: Eureka – “It’s Not Easy Being Green”

Just so you know, Kermit is not among the guest stars this week. I do hope someone is paying him royalties for the use of his most famous song title. Aliens? Well, not exactly. There is a bowling match between Fargo's (Neil Grayston) team and a team led by Bismarck. Some clever pranks arise out of these two groups, from a ball which splits — and tackles split pins — to an exploding ball that fills the immediate air with white powder. Nobody gets hurt, which gets Jack (Colin Ferguson) happy.

Tess (Jaime Ray Newman) and Allison (Salli Richardson Whitfield) have a request for him — get back energy sources from different parts of town so a laser can work. The name for the stuff is barely pronounceable, but a problem arises. Nuclear power cells go missing too. It's not too hard a guess as to the culprit when Big Ed (John DeSantis) has the job of cleaning. He more or less gets Global Dynamics sterile with organisms specific to the situation.

Duncan (Jeff Pangman) is back, despite being told he got Lexi (Ever Carradine), Jack's sister, pregnant with twins ("Insane in the P-Brane"). He uses his skills as a doctor in the World Health Organization to repair prank damage. Sutures aren't needed, but body cream is.

After nearly getting eaten by the green gook, he and Lexi plan to leave Eureka and get back to their real work. Carradine adds one more layer to the Carter story, but she needs to move on. She's not the science geek most are, and she would be wrong for a cop. Could she be back? Maybe. A script could have her use a webcam to let Jack and Zoe (Jordan Hinson) see her babies being born.

Part of this episode is a tribute to The Blob. Although I haven't seen the movie, I am assuming the idea is not quite a carbon copy. Every television show which uses a topic from, say, current events or other popular broadcasts, still has to make things work for the regular show and its characters. Having Grayston attacked in the shower is funny. The soap is artistically placed to get past the censors. I only wonder how many takes it took…

Aliens is also given its due. One scene has Jack underground as he tries to freeze the slithering goo into compliance. In a way, Ghostbusters pokes its head out and says hi. For all the seriousness of the situation, enough lighthearted moments happen so viewers are not cringing beneath blankets.

The 'something's coming' storyline is still playing out. Since over half the season is on tap, this just might be all the way through to the finale in September. Zane Donovan (Niall Matter) will hopefully be back by then. He isn't the lead role, Colin plays it. However, he is a vital part of the community. Ever since his girlfriend Jo (Erica Cerra), the deputy sheriff, had an identity issue ("Your Face or Mine"), Zane vanished and hasn't been heard or seen since. Tess is hardly a replacement. Lucas (Vanya Asher) is back, though, but Zane is just plain eye candy.